Stapling apparatus



n 4, 1949 D. R. LA PLACE 2,413,253

' STAPLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 3, 1942 Patented June 14., 1949 UNITED STAPLING APPARATUS Desmond'R. La Place, Pittsburgh, .-Pa., .assignor to TBocjl Corporation, a corporation o'fiDelaware Application September 3, 11842,:Seiial No. 457,165

6 Claims.

This invention pertains to the art of stapling and more especially to an apparatus for driving staples of the type in which the staple has a head portion that-originally lies in the plane of the legs, but which when driven is at right :angles to'the-plane of "the .legs. I refer to such staples as tilt-top staples.

Tilt-top staples of the type referred to are shown and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 386,497, filed April 2, 1941, and issued as U. S...Letters Patent No. 2,329,440, on September 14, 1943. Said application discloses one method of using said staples in which the driver engages the-uppermost edge of the head of the stapl and rotates the head of the staple from a vertical to a-horizontal :plane while the staple is being driven. One form of apparatus for acicomplishing this purpose is disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 386 ,498, filed April 2, 1941, and issued as U. S. :Letters Patent No. 2,355,807, on August 15,, .1944. The present invention is for an improvement in the art of driving tilt-top staples in which an apparatus is provided for turning the legs of the staples relatively tothe head rather than rotating the head relatively to the legs. .iEither method may be used but in some types of equipment, particularly power-operated equipment and-equipment in which the staple is out :Erom sheet .metal "in thes'ame machine in which the-staple is used, it may be preferable to rotate the legs with respect to the head.

In the accompanying drawing 1 hav illustrated one method of carrying out my invention and a specific form of apparatus but it will be understood that this is merely by way of illustration and that the method may be "carried out by other equipment and that various changes and modifications may "be made in the apparatus. In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a view partly in section and partly in side elevation of a stapling machine.

Figure '2 is abottom plan view of the machine shown in Figure 1.

Figure .3 is a detail view comprising a transverse vertical section through the lower portion of the apparatus disclosed in .Figure .1, showing the staple partially removed .from the magazine and partially tilted.

.Figure 4 is .a view similar to Figure .3 showing the staple completely turned and the driver .in position for driving the staple and in dotted lines the driven staple has been illustrated.

figure 5is-airont elevation of a single tilt-top staple in which the head is in the plane of the legs.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the staple shown in Figure 5 after it has beendriven; and

Figure 7 is a side elevation showing the form of the staple after it has been driven.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the slide block which moves the staples from the magazine to the stapling guide.

Referring to the drawings, the staple designated generally as A has a head portion a. and parallel legs 12. At :the .topof each leg is an offset inwardly turned extension designated 0 through which the head is connected with the legs. The staples are initially made flat with all of the parts .in-a common planeso that the staples may be cemented together into rows or sticks with the staples in tees to vface relation, thus enabling a large number .of staples to be compactly stored in the magazine .ofthe driving tool. In use, relative rotation is effected between the head and logs, the portions vc of the staple being twisted during this operation so that the driven staple has the head portion a at right angles to the legs as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7. The flat head portion of the staple, when turned to this position, presents a relatively large projected area to the surface of the material into which it is driven. Thus, the staple may be used in places where large headed nails are now required, as for example the securing of roofing and building paper to Wooden buildings and other like uses. As hereinbefore stated, the staple itself constitutes the. subject matter of the copending application.

.Reierringnow to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, 2 designates the bodyof a stapling apparatus, this body being .made of relativel .heavy material and having a flat-bottomed face 3. The body has a vertically extending mating .section or guide member A secured thereto by machine screws, one of such .screws being illustrated at 5 in Figure 1. The :bottom of the ,guide l is flush with the bottom 3 of the body land the two parts fit together as shown .in Figure .2. The two parts together enclose a vertical bore or passageway 8 which receives :a reciprocable plunger or driver I. This plunger has a sliding fit in the bore 8 and it has .a handle portion 8 at its upper end.

The lower portion of the part it is cut away to providea curved shoulder at .9 and a vertical shoulder at .lll. The base member 2 has the portion which fits into the ,part 4 rounded at I l and providing a vertical shoulder 12. The vertical shoulders 1.0 and 12, as shown in Figure 2, are

3 spaced from each other to provide a staple guide in which the legs of the staple are received while the staple is being driven.

Mounted in the member 2 is a transverse plate l3 having parallel side bars l4 and a central tongue IS. The free ends of the bars l4 are connected by a hardened cross pin Hi. This pin passes through an opening I! in the lower end of an operating lever H! which lever is fulcrumed at ill to the exterior of the housing member 4. The arrangement is such that when the free end of the lever I8 is grasped and squeezed or moved toward the handle 8 as viewed in Figure 1, the opposite end of the lever will move toward the left, pulling the slide plate I 3 toward the left. When the handle 18 is released, tension springs 20 which are attached to the side bars [4 and to the body member 2 serve to move th slide plate l3 back to the position shown in Figure 1.

The forward end of the tongue of the slide plate 13 has a recess formed in the top surface thereof at 2 i, this recess being of a depth equal to the thickness of one staple. The part 4 in conjunction with the part 2 cooperate to provide a magazine for holding astick of staples above the slide plate 3. The part 4 has a vertical rib portion 22 thereon above the rounded shoulder 9 astraddle which the row of staples, designated generally as B in Figure 1 may be placed. The upper part of the housing or body 2 is cut away as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2 so as to receive the lowermost portion of this row of staples. A follower block 23 presses against the uppermost staple in the row B and a sprin 24 around a supporting road 25 engages an abutment 26 which bears against the end of the follower 23 to urge it down. To replace the staples after a row has been consumed, the follower block 23 is pulled back against the compression of the spring 24 until there is suificient clearance to insert additional staples. The magazine arrangement is more or less conventional and forms no part of the present invention per se. The tongue 15 on the slide plate or yoke l3 extends across the bottom of the magazine and forms a limit to stop the downward travel of the row of staples, the endmost staple at the bottom. of the row having its head portion received in the recess 2| in the tongue of the slide plate.

In operation, after the staples have been charged into the magazine the handle 18 is operated. This pulls the slide plate l3 toward the left from the position shown in Figure 1. The bottom staple which rests in this slide plate is thus sheared from the strip of staples and carried toward the left. After it has moved a slight distance the ends of the leg of the staple which point toward the curved shoulder 9 contact this surface and as the slide l3 continues to move over toward the left the ends of the legs of the staple are cammed down toward a vertical position. The head of the staple, however, is confined against the lower end of the face 22a of the rib 22 and is held in a horizontal position, being confined in the recess on the tongue 15 of the slide plate and under the end 22a of the rib 22. When the plate I3 has been moved to the limit of its stroke the staple will then have been bent to the position shown in Figure 4 and the legs will be in the guideway formed between the vertical shoulders l6 and I2 and the head of the staple will be at right angles to the legs. The handle l 3 is then released, allowing the slide plate 13 to retract. The staple, however, is prevented from moving back due to the fact that the lower ends of the legs are then in the vertical staple guide between the shoulders I 0 and I2. The handle 8 of the driver is then grasped and the driver is lifted and driven down. The lower end of the driver I engages the top of the staple and drives it into the material to the dotted line position shown in Figure 4 where X designates an underlying supporting member and Y designates sheet material being secured to X.

After the staple has been driven the handle 8 is lifted and the operation is repeated. There may be a coil spring around the plunger 7 under the handle 8 as indicated at 2? for normally holding the plunger in a position where the lower end of the driver I is above the plane of movement of the slide plate i3. This spring compresses slightly when the staple is driven to return the plunger after the driving stroke.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the apparatus provides in a mechanism for driving a tilt-top staple means for removing the staple from the magazine, swinging the legs of the staple through an arc while the head portion of the staple is held in a fixed plane so that the head portion of the staple which was originally in the plane of the legs is then at right angles to the legs after which the staple is driven in more or less conventional fashion. The apparatus for accomplishing the driving of the staple is relatively simple. The curved surface 9 is preferably highly polished and hardened so as to ofier a minimum resistance to the turning of the legs of the stapleand to prevent the points of the staple from digging into the material as the turning operation is started.

As hereinbefore indicated, I have shown one specific form of apparatus in the form of a handle tool but my invention is not restricted to the particular apparatus illustrated and may be otherwise embodied.

I have illustrated my invention as applying to tilt-top staples formed from sheet metal but the invention is also applicable to the driving of wire staples in which the head portion is narrower than the distance between the legs and the head is connected to the legs by offset portions.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus of the class described comprising a magazine for holding flat staples in face-to-face relation, the staples having a head portion and two leg portions, means for moving staples horizontally one at a time from the magazine, and means for deflecting the legs of the staple vertically by swinging them about an axis that traverses the head, and means for confining the head in a horizontal position during such operation of moving the staples and bending the legs.

2. In a stapling apparatus comprising means for shifting a staple having a fiat head and two legs all of which lie in a plane in a horizontal direction from one position to another, means engaging the head of the staple while it is being shifted to hold it in its original plane, and means engaging the legs of the staple while it is being so shifted for deflecting them relatively to the head to a vertical position about an axis that traverses the head of the staple.

3. In an apparatus for driving staples wherein the staples originally have legs and a flat head portion all in the same plane, the head portion being connected to the legs by lateral offsets, said apparatus comprising means engaging the head of the staple for sliding the staple in a horizontal direction, and means engaging the points of the legs during such sliding movement to twist said offset extensions and swing the legs in the same direction relatively to the head from the plane of the head ofthe staple to a plane perpendicular to said-head.

4. Apparatus for driving tilt-top staples, each staple having a head portion and leg portions which initially are in a substantially common plane, comprising means for confining the head of the staple to its original plane, means for swinging the:legs of the staple through the same are and in the same direction and relatively to the head from the original plane to a plane perpendicular to the head, and means for driving the staple after the legs have been so turned.

5. A stapling apparatus for driving tilt-top 6. A stapling apparatus comprising a tool having a body portion, a driver slidably mounted on r the tool, a slide plate movable transversely of the path of the driver for receiving staples at verse to the direction of movement of the driver to a plane parallel with the direction of movement of the driver, and means for holding the head of the staple in a plane while the legs are being turned to efiect a relative twisting movestaples comprising a reciprocable driver, a staple guide along which the driver operates, the lower portion of said guide being parallel with the axis of the driver, the staple guide having an extension at its :upper end which curves laterally through an arc of substantially 90 from the axis of the lower portion of the guide, and means for receiving a staple at one side of the guide and thrusting it point first so that the legs first enter the curved part of the guide and are then deflected to the lower part of the guide, and

ment between the legs and the head.

DESMOND R. LA PLACE.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

means for engaging the head of the staple while I it is being so moved and confining it to a plane to efl'ect a relative twisting movement between the legs and the head.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 201,684 Kimball Mar. 26, 1878 234,671 Hayne Nov. 23, 1880 525,351 Moore Sept. 4, 1894 1,067,541 Palmgren July 15, 1913 1,377,295 Wentworth May 10, 1921 2,074,611 Kingslow Mar. 23, 1937 2,231,539 Larsen Feb. 11, 1941 2,277,931 Moe Mar. 31, 1942 

